Tag Archives: councilman

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Men, you’ll want to eat celery after reading this!


Men, eat your celery!

Sunday May 16, 2010
From Jolinda Hackett, your Guide to Vegetarian Food
This is one of those news stories that is really only peripherally related to vegetarian food, but I still just can’t help but share it. A couple of doctors decided, for some reason, to study celery. Or perhaps they were trying to figure out how to pick up chicks (the real reason they went to med school, perhaps?). At any rate, these doctors have discovered that the real way to pick up chicks is not contained in aftershave, lifting weights, cheesy pick-up lines or even in chocolate and roses. No, the real secret to making men attractive to the opposite sex is in celery. That’s right, celery.Apparently, celery contains a natural steroid. Eating celery causes men to release more pheromones right away, which women can detect. There are, um, other benefits mentioned in the article as well.

And, to avoid making this point too heteronormative (and to use a five-dollar GRE word), no word on whether the celery pheromone boost will help out our gay and lesbian friends. But eating healthy always seems to help when it comes to looking and feeling good, so I suppose it can’t hurt!

Article link: Celery ‘makes men more attractive’

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Black History

Monday in Congress …Not


The Senate Convenes: 2pmET June 7 2010

The Senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

At 4:30pm, the Senate will proceed to Executive Session to consider the following nominations:
– #730, Audrey Fleissing, of Missouri, to be US District Judge for the Eastern District of MO
– #731, Lucy Koh, of California, to be US District Judge for the Northern District of CA
– #759, Jane Magnus-Stinson, of Indiana, to be US District Judge for the Southern District of IN

At 5:30pm, the Senate will proceed to vote on confirmation of the nominations in the order listed. After the first vote, the succeeding votes will be limited to 10 minutes each.

The next meeting in the House: 2pmET June 8 2010


Black History

House votes to extend jobless benefits until Nov. 30/President extends mining&logging moratorium


WASHINGTON — The House agreed Friday to extend expiring jobless benefits for hundreds of thousands of workers nationwide until Nov. 30, but 1.2 million out-of-work Americans still face losing their benefits next month because the Senate left for a 10-day Memorial Day recess without acting.

The Senate isn’t scheduled to return to Washington until June 7, five days after federal funding for the benefits is to expire.

Even when the Senate returns, quick action could be difficult. Friday’s 215-204 House vote on a package that includes tax changes for businesses sent an ominous signal about why approving the added jobless benefits has become so difficult.

Though Democratic leaders pushed the measure hard, 34 House Democrats — including Washington’s Jay Inslee and Adam Smith — joined 170 Republicans in voting no. One Republican, Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao of Louisiana, and 214 Democrats voted yes.

The bill passed with no provision for continuing federal health-care subsidies for unemployed workers, a provision that was cut from the legislation after Democratic moderates expressed concerns about what its cost would add to the federal budget deficit.

The House, by a 245-171 vote, also extended present Medicare reimbursements paid to doctors for 19 months, with small increases each year.

The measures would add a total of about $54.2 billion to the federal deficit, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which estimates the deficit will reach about $1.5 trillion this fiscal year.

To keep moderates in line, Democrats also scuttled plans to provide more funding to states for Medicaid, the joint state-federal health-care program for lower-income people, some seniors and those with disabilities.

Even those changes failed to move many centrists, however.

“There are different attitudes in the country about how much we should be spending on unemployment insurance,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. “Members who are from low unemployment areas are very concerned about the deficit. Members who are from high unemployment areas are very concerned about the jobs.”

The legislation the House passed Friday extends a series of business tax breaks, such as a research tax credit, that were due to expire. Part of the package is paid for, notably by changing how multinational companies are taxed on foreign income, as well as “carried interest” earned by venture capitalists, hedge fund managers and others.

Friday was the third time this year that Congress has failed to meet the deadline for extending jobless benefits.

On the first two occasions, Republican senators blocked quick consideration, saying they wanted the programs paid for. This time, Republicans still objected, but it was centrist Democrats who were raising alarms. The original House plan would have spent nearly $200 billion and increased the deficit by $133.8 billion over the next 10 years.

The day in D.C.

Roadless forests: The Obama administration Friday extended for another year the moratorium on most logging and mining in millions of acres of remote and rugged backcountry sections of national forests. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said he wants to continue to give decisions on projects in roadless areas a higher level of scrutiny while waiting for federal courts to resolve the legal issues.

Kentucky Senate race: Senate candidate Rand Paul, R-Ky., told a Russian TV station in a clip circulating on political websites Friday that he opposes citizenship for children born in the U.S. to parents who are illegal immigrants. Paul, who a week ago won the GOP primary, said he wants to block citizenship to those children. “We’re the only country I know that allows people to come in illegally, have a baby and then that baby becomes a citizen,” Paul told RT, an English-language station.

Hutchison’s future: Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, hasn’t decided whether to retire at the end of 2012, and the possibility she’ll run again leaves a major question mark over the already competitive field of candidates lined up to replace her. After earlier declining to discuss her plans, she said this week she has set no deadline on whether to seek another six-year term.

Seattle Times news services

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A message from OFA


This is big news: Yesterday, the full House of Representatives and the Armed Services Committee in the Senate voted to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

In his State of the Union address, President Obama pledged to end the law that denies gays and lesbians the right to serve their country. Now, we are closer than ever to making good on that promise.

The full Senate will soon start its debate on repeal. But some Republicans are digging in their heels. Senator John McCain said, “I’ll do everything in my power” to block a vote. And Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker called the repeal bill “a major mistake” — announcing that the GOP plans to filibuster.

We can defeat those who’d stand in the way of history. But we must show our senators that Americans — in every state — overwhelmingly support repeal.

Stand with the President and join the pledge to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

Stand with the President: Repeal 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.' Add your name.

From the Recovery Act to health reform to Wall Street reform, one by one President Obama is delivering on his campaign promises. And, now — if we can overcome Republican obstruction — we have a chance to deliver on another: bringing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” to an end.

As the President has said, this is about more than just living up to his word. We must end this law because “it’s the right thing to do.”

Any policy that punishes brave men and women who step forward to serve their country simply for being who they are isn’t just misguided — it’s discrimination.

That’s why President Obama didn’t just campaign on ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”; he made it a priority. And it’s why it’s now a matter of how and when — not if — we will repeal this law.

But as the Republicans prepare to block a vote on this historic legislation, we must do all we can to help deliver on the President’s promise.

Add your name to the pledge today — and then please pass it on:

http://my.barackobama.com/RepealDADT

Thanks,

Mitch

Mitch Stewart
Director
Organizing for America

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Senator Patty Murray


Thank you for contacting me regarding energy exploration off our nation’s coastlines.

Since the passage of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act in 1952, the federal government has leased the underwater terrain extending for 200 miles beyond states’ jurisdiction. Due to environmental concerns, Congress limited energy exploitation of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) to clearly-defined areas in the Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska’s coast, and affirmed a moratorium on the expansion of drilling outside those areas. In 2008, President George W. Bush removed the moratoria on offshore leasing for most areas of the OCS. In March 2010, President Obama approved new offshore oil and gas drilling in the waters of the mid and south Atlantic, the eastern part of the Gulf of Mexico and certain waters surrounding Alaska. The waters that remain restricted to offshore oil and gas development are located off the West Coast and Bristol Bay in Alaska.

As you may know, after the explosion and heartbreaking deaths of 11 crewmembers of the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has temporarily halted all new offshore drilling permits. Additionally, a moratorium on new permits is in effect until a thorough federal investigation of this catastrophic incident can be completed. I believe the companies responsible for atrocities of this nature should be held financially accountable. I recently cosponsored the Big Oil Bailout Prevention Liability Act of 2010 (S. 3305) and the Big Oil Bailout Prevention Trust Fund Act of 2010 (S. 3306) to ensure taxpayers will not pay to clean up spills and oil companies are held accountable for all of the costs resulting from their accidents. Both of these bills are currently pending in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

Throughout my Senate tenure, I have opposed efforts to expand offshore drilling. Additionally, I have long championed banning all offshore development along the West Coast. I recently became an original cosponsor of the West Coast Ocean Protection Act of 2010 (S. 3358). This bill would amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from authorizing leases for exploration, development, or production of oil or natural gas in any area of the outer Continental Shelf off the coast of Washington, Oregon, and California. This bill is currently being considered in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Like you, I am deeply concerned about record-high energy prices and our continuing dependence on foreign oil. I firmly believe that we must move forward with policies that promote alternative energy, energy conservation and efficiency. As Congress continues to deal with energy and natural resource extraction issues, I will be working to ensure that we institute a sensible, comprehensive energy policy that focuses on renewable energy and decreases our dependence on foreign oil and fossil fuels.

I appreciate hearing your comments and concerns with offshore oil and gas development. If you would like to know more about my work in the Senate, please feel free to sign up for my weekly updates at http://murray.senate.gov/updates. Thank you for contacting me about this important issue, and please keep in touch.
Sincerely,

Patty Murray
United States Senator